Selected quad for the lemma: religion_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
religion_n	argument_n	author_n	great_a	160	3	2.0926	3	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A41614	A papist mis-represented and represented, or, A twofold character of popery the one containing a sum of the superstitions, idolatries, cruelties, treacheries, and wicked principles of the popery which hath disturb'd this nation above an hundred and fifty years, fill'd it with fears and jealousies, and deserves the hatred of all good Christians : the other laying open that popery which the papists own and profess, with the chief articles of their faith, and some of the principle grounds and reasons, which hold them in that religion / by J.L. one of the Church of Rome ; to which is added, a book entituled, The doctrines and practices of the Church of Rome, truly represented, in answer to the aforesaid book by a Prote	Gother, John, d. 1704.; Stillingfleet, Edward, 1635-1699.	1686 (1686)	Wing G1336; ESTC R21204	180,124	215

purpose And he adds that the difference between the Divines and Canonists was but in Terms for the Canonists were in the right as to the Power and the Divines in the manner of explaining it 3. Others have thought this too loose a way of explaining the Popes Power and therefore they say That the Pope hath not a bare declaratory Power but a real Power of dispensing in a proper sense in particular Cases For say they the other is no act of Jurisdiction but of Discretion and may belong to other men as well as to the Pope but this they look on as more agreeable to the Popes Authority and Commission and a bare declaratory Power would not be sufficient for the Churches Necessity as Sanchez shews at large and quotes many Authors for this Opinion and Sayr more and he saith the Practice of the Church cannot be justified without it Which Suarez much insists upon and without it he saith the Church hath fallen into intolerable Errors and it is evident he saith the Church hath granted real Dispensations and not meer Declarations And he founds it upon Christ's Promise to Peter To thee will I give the Keys and the Charge to him Feed my Sheep But then he explains this Opinion by saying that it is no formal Dispensation with the Law of God but the matter of the Law is changed or taken away Thus I have briefly laid together the different Opinions in the Church of Rome about this power of dispensing with the Law of God from which it appears that they do all consent in the thing but differ only in the manner of explaining it And I am therefore afraid our Representer is a very unstudied Divine and doth not well understand their own Doctrine or he would never have talked so boldly and unskilfully in this matter As to what he pretends that their Church teaches that every Lye is a Sin c. it doth not teach the Case for the Question it not whether their Church teach men to lye but whether there be not such a power in the Church as by altering the nature of things may not make that not to be a Lye which otherwise would be one As their Church teaches that men ought not to break their V●ws yet no one among them questions but the Pope may dissolve the Obligation of a Vow although it be made to God himself Let him shew then how the Pope comes to have a Power to release a Vow made to God and not to have a Power to release the Obligation to veracity among men Again We do not charge them with delivering any such Doctrine That men may have Dispensations to lye and forswear themselves at pleasure for we know this Dispensing Power is to be kept up as a great Mystery and not to be made use of but upon weighty and urgent causes of great consequence and bene●it to the Church as their Doctors declare But as to all matters of fact which he alludes to I have nothing to say to them for our Debate is only whether there be such a Power of Dispensation allowed in the Church of Rome or not XX. Of the Deposing Power HE believes that the Pope has Authority to dispence with his Allegiance to his Prince and that he needs no longer be a Loyal Subject and maintain the Rights Priviledges and Authority of his King than the Pope will give him leave And that if this Mighty Father think sit to thunder out an Excommunication against him then he shall be deem'd the best Subject and Most Christian that can first shed his Prince's Blood and make him a Sacrifice to Rome and he 's but ill rewarded for his pains who after so Glorious an Atchievement has not his Name plac'd in the Kalendar and he Canoniz'd for a Saint So that there can be no greater Danger to a King than to have Popish Subjects he holding his Life amongst them only at the Pope 's pleasure 'T IS no part of his Faith to believe that the Pope has Authority to dispence with his Allegiance to his Sovereign or that he can Depose Princes upon any account whatsoever giving leave to their Subjects to take up Arms against them and endeavour their ruin He knows that Deposing King-killing Power has been maintain'd by some Canonists and Divines of his Church and that it is in their Opinion lawful and annex'd to the Papal Chair He knows likewise that some Popes have endeavor'd to act according to this Power But that this Doctrine appertains to the Faith of his Church and is to be believ'd by all of that Communion is a malicious Calumny a down-right Falsity And for the truth of this it seems to him a sufficient Argument that for the f●w Authors that are Abettors of this Doctrine there are of his Communion three times the number that publickly disown all such Authority besides several Universities and whole Bodies that have solemnly condemn'd it without being in the least suspected of their Religion or of denying any Article of their Faith Those other Authors therefore Publish their own Opinions in their Books and those Popes acted according to what they judg'd lawful and all this amounts to no more than that this Doctrine has been or is an Opinion amongst some of his Church but to raise it to an Article of Faith upon these grounds is impossible Let his Church therefore answer for no more than what she delivers for Faith let Prelates answer for t●eir Actions and Authors for their own Opinions otherwise more Churches must be charg'd with Deposing and King-killing Doctrine besides that of Rome The University of Oxford having found other Authors of Pernicious Books and Damnable Doctrines destructive to the Sacred Persons of Princes their State and Government besides Iesuits as may be seen in their Decree published in the London Gazette Iuly 26. 1683. In which they condemn'd twenty seven false i●pious seditious Propositions fitted to stir up Tumults overthrow States and Kingdoms to lead to Rebellion Murder of Princes and Atheism it self Of which number only three or four were ascrib'd to the Iesuits the rest having men of another Communion for their Fathers And this Doctrine was not first condemn'd by Oxford What they did here in the Year 1683. having been solemnly done in Paris in 1626. Where the whole Colledge of Sorbon gave Sentence against this Proposition of Sanctarellus viz That the Pope for Heresie and Schism might depose Princes and exempt the Subjects from their Obedience the like was done by the Universities of Caen Rhemes Poictoirs Valence Bourdeaux Bourges and the Condemnation subscrib'd by the Iesuits And Mariana's Book was committed publickly to the flames by a Provincial Council of his own Order for the discoursing the Point of King-killing Doctrine problematically Why therefore should this disloyal Doctrine be laid to his Church whenas it has been writ against by several hundred single Authors in her Communion and disown'd and solemnly condemn'd by so many famous

may pray and fast in secret according to our Saviours Directions far more than they do however our People are mightily to blame if they do not understand what they pray for if they do not receive more of the Sacrament than they and we verily believe there are as great and remarkable Instances of true Charity among those of the Church of England as among any People in the World XXXII Of Miracles HE is so given up to the belief of idle Stories and ridiculous Intentions in favour of his Saints which he calls Miracles that nothing can be related so every way absurd foolish and almost impossible but it gains credit with him and he is so credulously confident of the truth of them that there 's no difference to him betwixt these Tales and what he reads in Scr●pture 'T is a pretty Romance to see what is recounted of St. Francis 's Cord the Scapular St. Anthony St. Bridget and other such Favourites of Heaven He that has but read the Atchievements of these may excuse the perusal of Bevis of Sou●hampton the Seven Champions or Quevedo 's Dreams For these are nothing to compare to the former either for the rare invention wonderful surprises or performance of impossibil●ties HE is not oblig'd to believe any on● Miracle besides what is in the Scripture and for all others he may give the credit which in prudence he thinks they deserve considering the Honesty of the Relator the Authori●y of the Witnesses and such other circumstances which on the like occasions use to gain his assent And if upon the account of meer History and the consent of Authors few make any doubt but that there was such a one as Caesar Alexander Mahomet Luther c. Why should he doubt of the truth of many Miracles which have not only the like consent of Authors and History but also are attested by great numbers of Eye-witnesses examin'd by Authority and found upon Reco●d with all the formal●ties due to such a Process St. Augustine relates many Miracles done in his time so does St. Ierom and other Fathers and if they doubted nothing of them then Why should he question the truth of them now He finds that in the time of the Old Law God favour'd many of his Servants working Miracles by their hands and he thinks now that God's hand is not shortned that the Disciples of Christ are no less Favourites of Heaven than those of Moses and that the new Law may be very well allow'd to be as Glorious and as particularly priviledg'd as the Old especially since Christ promised that his Apostles should do greater Miracles than ever He himself had done And what if some Miracles recounted by Authors are so wonderfully strange to some they seem Ridiculous and Absurd are they the less true upon this account Is not every thing Ridiculous to Unbelievers The whole Doctrine of Christ is a Scandal to the Iews and Folly to the Gentiles And what more Absurd to one that wants Faith than the Miracles recounted in the Old Testament Might not such a one turn them all into Ridicule and Buffoonry Take but Faith away and see what becomes of Balaam and his Ass. Sampson and his Iaw-bone Elias and his Fiery Chariot Elijah's M●ntle Ax-head and Dead Bones Gideon's Pitchers Lamps and Trumpets in demolishing the Walls of Iericho Moses and his Burning Bush his holding up his hands for the Victory over his Enemies his parting of the Red-Sea and Ioshua's commanding the Sun to stand still c. Might not these and all the rest be painted out as Ridiculous as any supposed to be done since Christ's time and be put in the same List with the History of Bevis or Guy of Warwick A little incredulity accompanied with a presumption of measuring God's Works by Humane W●sdom will really make the greatest part of them pass for Follies and Absurd Impossibilities And thô he is so far from giving equal assent to the Miracles related in Scripture and the others wrought since that the former he believes with a Divine Faith and the rest with an inferiour kind of assent according to the Grounds and Authority there is in favour of them like as he does in Prophane History Yet the strangeness of these never makes him in the least doubt of the Truth of them since ' ●is evident to him that all the Works of Heaven far surpass all his reasoning and that while he endeavours but to look even into the very ordinary things daily wrought by God Almighty the Motion of the Sun Moon and Stars the Flowing of the Sea the Growing of an Ear of Corn the Light of a Candle the Artifice of the Bees c. he quite loses himself and is bound to confess his own Ignorance and Folly and that God is Wonderful in all his Works a God surpassing all our knowledge Whatsoever therefore is related upon good grounds as done by the extraordinary Power of God he is ready to assent to it although he sees neither the how the why nor the wherefore being ready to attribute all to the Honour and Praise of his Maker to whose Omnipotent Hand most of poor Man's impossibles are none XXXII Of Miracles 1. OUr Author saith He is not obliged to believe any one Miracle besides what is in Scripture 2. He sees no Reason to doubt the truth of many Miracles which are attested by great numbers of Eye-witnesses examined by Authority and found upon Record with all the Formalities due to such a Process Now how can these two things stand together Is not a Man obliged to believe a thing so well proved And if his other Arguments prove any things it is that he is bound to believe them For he thinks there is as much Reason to believe Miracles still as in the time of the old or new Law If he can make this out I see no reason why he should not be as well obliged to believe them now as those recorded in Scripture But I can see nothing like a proof of this And all Persons of Judgment in their own Church do grant there is a great difference between the Necessity of Miracles for the first establishing a Religion and afterwards This is not only asserted by Tostatus Erasmus Stella Andradius and several others formerly but the very late French Author I have several times mentioned saith it in expr●ss Terms And he confesses the great Impostures of modern Miracles which he saith ought to be severely punished and that none but Women and weak People think themselves bound to believe them And he cannot understand what they are good for Not to convert Hereticks because not done among them Not to prove there are no corruptions or errors among them which is a thing incredible with much more to that purpose and so concludes with Monsieur Paschal That if they have no better use we ought not to be amused with them But Christ promised that his Apostles should do greater Miracles than himself had done

but even the Wollenbergii lately confess that the abuses therein have not only been offensive to us but to themselves too But what saith our Representer to them He believes it damnable to think there 's any Divinity in the Reliques of Saints or to adore them with Divine Honour But what is this adoring them with Divine Honour A true Representer ought to have told us what he meant by it when the whole Controversie depends upon it Is it only saying Mass to Reliques or believing them to be Gods Is there no giving Divine Honour by Prostration burning of Incense c. Nothing in expecting help from them Yes If it be from any hidden Power of their own But here is a very hard Question If a Man doth not believe it to be an intrinsick Power in the Reliques may a Man safely go to them Opis impetrandae causâ as the Council of Trent saith in hopes of Relief from them Is it not possible for the Devil to appear with Samuel's true Body and make use of the Relique of a Saint to a very bad end Then say I no Reliques can secure Men against the Imposture of Evil Spirits who by God's Permission may do strange things with the very Reliques of Saints But God hath visibly worked by them saith our Author by making them Instruments of many Miracles and it is as easie for him to do it now This is the force of all he saith To which I answer 1. It is a very bold thing to call in God's Omnipotency where God himself hath never declared he will use his Power for it is under his own Command and not ours But there is no Reason to deduce the Consequence of using it now because he hath done it formerly And that they may not think this is cavilling in us I desire them to read Pere Anna●'s Answer to the Jansenists pretended Miracle at Port Poyal viz. of the Cure wrought by one of our Saviour's Thorns There he gives another account of such Miracles than would be taken from us But where he saith It is as much for the Honour of God's Name to work such Miracles now their own Authors will tell him the contrary and that there is no such Reason now as in former times when Religion was to be confirmed by them and when Martyrs suffered upon the sole account of the Truth of it and therefore their Reputation had a greater Influence upon converting the unbelieving World 2. Suppose it be granted yet it proves not any Religious Worship to be given to them For I shall seriously ask an important Question Whether they do really believe any greater Miracles have ever been done by Reliques than were done by the Brazen Serpent And yet although that was set up by God's own Appointment when it began to be worshorshipped after an undue manner it was thought fit by Hezekiah to be broken in pieces What now was the undue Worship they gave to it Did they believe the Serpent which could neither move nor understand was it self a God But they did burn Incense to it And did that make a God of it Suppose Men burn Incense to Reliques What then are they made Gods presently Suppose they do not but place them upon Altars carry them in Procession fall down before them with intention to shew the Honour they do them are not these as much as burning a little Incense which could not signify so much Honour as the other do and it is hard then to make the one unlawful and not the other V. Of the EUCHARIST HE believes it lawful to commit Idolatry and makes it his daily practice to Worship and adore a Breaden God giving Divine Honour to those poor empty Elements of Bread and Wine Of these he asks Pardon for his sins of these he desires Grace and Salvation these he acknowledges to have been his Redeemer and Saviour and hopes for no good but what is to come to him by means of these household Goods And then for his Apology he alledges such gross contradictions contrary to all sense and reason that whosoever will be a Papist must be no Man Fondly believing that what he adores is no Bread or Wine but Christ really present under those appearances and thus makes as many Christs as many Redeemers as there are Churches Altars or Priests When according to Gods Infallible Word there is but one Christ and He not on Earth but at the right hand of his Father in Heaven HE believes it unlawful to commit Idolatry and most damnable to Worship or Adore any Breaden God or to give Divine Honour to any Elements of Bread and Wine He worships only one God who made Heaven and Earth and his only Son Jesus Christ our Redeemer who being in all things equal to his Father in Truth and Omnipotency he believes made his words good pronounc'd at his last Supper really giving his Body and Blood to his Apostles the Substance of Bread and Wine being by his powerful Words chang'd into his own Body and Blood the Species or Accidents of the Bread and Wine remaining as before The same he believes of the most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist consecrated now by Priests That it really contains the Body of Christ which was deliver'd for us and his Blood which was shed for the remission of sins Which being there united with the Divinity he confesses Whole Christ to be present And him he adores and acknowledges his Redeemer and not any Bread or Wine And for the believing of this Mystery he does not at all think it meet for any Christian to appeal from Christ's Words to his own Senses or Reason for the examining the truth of what he has said but rather to submit his Senses and Reason to Christ's Words in the obsequiousness of Faith And that being a Son of Abraham 't is more becoming him to believe as Abraham did promptly with a Faith superiour to all Sense or Reason and whither these could never lead him With this Faith it is he believes every Mystery of his Religion the Trinity Incarnation c. With this Faith he believes that what descended upon our Saviour at his Baptism in Iordan was really the Holy Ghost though Senses or Reason could discover it to be nothing but a Dove With this Faith he believes That the Man that Ioshua saw standing over against him with his Sword drawn Iosh. 5.13 and the three Men that Abraham entertain'd in the Plains of Mambre Gen. 18. were really and substantially no Men and that notwithstanding all the information and evidence of Sense from their Colour Features Proportion Talking Eating and many others of their being Men yet without any discredit to his Senses he really believes they were no such thing because God's Word has assured him of the contrary And with this Faith he believes Christ's Body and Blood to be really present in the Blessed Sacrament though to all appearance there 's nothing more than Bread and Wine Thus not at all

Universities And why should the Actions of some few Popes with the Private Opinions of some Speculative Doctors be so often and vehemently urg'd for the just charging this Doctrine upon the Faith of the Church of Rome which to a Serious Impartial Considerer are only meer Fallacies capable of Libelling all Societies in the World of overthrowing all States and Kingdoms and only fit Arguments for Knaves to cheat Fools withal There being no Government in the World which might not be easily proved Tyrannical No Religion Perswasion or Society which might not plausibly be indicted of Atheism If the Actions Pretences Claims and endeavour of some few of their Governours and Leading Men the Opinions Writings Phansies of some Authors be allow'd as sufficient Evidence for the bringing in the Verdict of Guilty upon the whole When Malice ther●fore and Envy have done their worst in this point to render the Papists bloody and barbarous to the World yet ' ds certain after all that Popish Princes sit as safe in their Thrones enjoy as much Peace and Security as any other Princes whatsoever and that the Papists in England can give as good proofs of their Loyalty as the best of those that clamour so loud against them They can bid defi●nce to their Adversaries to shew any one Person of Honour and Estate amongst them or even four of any condition whatsoever that bore Arms against Charles the First during the whole time of his Troubles They can make good that there was scarce any amongst them that did not assist his Majesty either with Person or Purse or both And they can say that Charles the First was murder'd in cold blood by his Protestant Subjects after many hundred Papists had lost their Lives for the preventing that Butchery and that Charles the Second being pursued by the same Subjects for his Life sav'd it amongst the Papists XX. Of the Deposing Power TO bring this matter into as narrow a compass as may be I shall first take notice of his Concessions which will save us a labour of Proofs 1. He yields that the Deposing and King-killing Power hath been maintained by some Canonists and Divines of his Church and that it is in their opinion lawful and annexed to the Papal Chair 2. That some Popes have endeavoured to act according to this Power But then he denies that this Doctrine appertains to the Faith of his Church and is to be believed by all of that Communion And more than that he saith The affirming of it is a malicious Calumny a downright Falsity Let us now calmly debate the matter Whether according to the received principles of the Church of Rome this be only a particul●r opinion of some Popes and Divines or be to be received as a matter of Faith The Question is not Whether those who deny it do account it an Article of Faith for we know they do not But whether upon the Principles of the Church of Rome they are not bound to do it I shall only to avoid cavilling proceed upon the Principles owned by our Author himself viz. 1. That the sense of Scripture as understood by the Community of Christians in all Angels since the Apostles is to be taken from the present Church 2. That by the present Church be understands the Pastors and Prelates assembled in Councils who are appointed by Christ and his Apostles for the decision of controversies and that they have In●allible assistance 3. That the Pope as Head of the Church hath a particular assistance promised him with a special regard to his Office and Function If therefore it appear that Popes and Councils have declared this Deposing Doctrine and t●ey h●ve received other things as Articles of Faith upon the same Declarations why should they then stick at yielding this to be an Article of Faith as well as the other It is not denied that I can find that Popes and Councils for several Ages have asserted and exercised the Deposing Power but it is alledged against these Decrees Acts. 1. That they were not grounded upon Universal Tradition 2. That they had not Universal Reception Now if these be sufficient to overthrow the Definitions of Councils let us consider the consequences of it 1. Then every Man is left to examin the Decrees of Councils whether they are to be embraced or not for he is to judge whether they are founded on Universal Tradition and so he is not to take the sense of the present Church for his Guide but the Universal Church from Christs time which overthrows a Fundamental Principle of the Roman Church 2. Then he must reject the pretended Infallibility in the Guides of the Church if they could so notoriously err in a matter of so great consequence to the Peace of Christendom as this was and consequently their Authority could not be sufficient to declare any Articles of Faith And so all Persons must be left at Liberty to believe as they see cause notwithstanding the Definitions made by Popes and Councils 3. Then he must believe the Guides of the Roman Church to have been mistaken not once or twice but to have persisted in it for Five hundred years which must take away not only Infall●bil●ty but any kind of Reverence to the Authority of it For whatever may be said as to those who have depended on Princes or favour their Part●es against the Guides of the Church it cannot be denied that for so long time the leading Party in that Church did assert and maintain the Deposing Power And therefore Lessius truly understood this matter when he said That there was scarce any Article of the Christian Faith the denial whereof was more dangerous to the Church or did precipitate Men more into Heresie and Hatred of the Church than this of the Deposing Power for he says they could not maintain their Churches Authority without it And he reckons up these ill Consequences of denying it 1. That the Roman Church hath erred for at least five hundred years in a matter fundamental as to Government and of great Moment Which is worse than an Error about Sacraments as Penance Extream Unction c. and yet those who deny the Church can err in one hold that it hath erred in a greater matter 2. That it hath not only erred but voluntarily and out of Ambi●ion perverting out of Design the Doctrine of the Primive Church and Fathers concerning the Power of the Church and bringing in another contrary to it against the Right and Authority of Princes which were a grievous sin 3. That it made knowingly unrighteous Decrees to draw persons from their Allegiance to Princes and so they became the Causes of many Seditions and Rebellions and all the ill Consequences of them under a shew of Piety and Religion 4. That the Churches Decrees Commands Judgments and Censures may be safely contemned as Null and containing intolerable Errors And that it may require such things which good Subjects are bound to disobey 5. That Gregory VII

in the Canon Nos Sanctorum c. Urban II. Gregory IX the Councils of Lateran under Alex. III. and Innocent III the Councils of Lyons of Vienna of Constance of Lateran under Leo X. and of Trent have all grievously and enormously erred about this matter for that it was the Doctrine of them all he shews at large and so Seven General Counc●ls lose their Infallibility at one blow 6. That the Gates of H●ll have prevailed against the Church For the true Church could never teach such pernicious Doctrine as this must be if it be not true And if it erred in this it might as well err in any other Doctrine and so Men are not bound to believe or obey it 7. That Princes and all Laymen have just Cause to withdraw from their Church because it shewed it self to be governed by a spirit of Ambition and not by the Spirit of God and not only so but they may justly prosecute all that maintain a Doctrine so pernicious to Government if it be not true Let us now see what our Author saith to clear this from being a Doctrine of the Church of Rome 1. That for the few Authors that are abettors of this Doctrine there are of his Communion three times the number that publickly disown all such Authority If this b● true it is not much for the Reputation of their Church That there should be such a number of those who are liable to all these dreadful Consequences which Lessius urges upon the deniers of it But is it possible to believe there should be so few followers of so many Popes and Seven General Councils owned for such by the disowners of this Doctrine except the Lateran under Leo 10 The poor Eastern Christians are condemned for Hereticks by the Church of Rome for refusing to submit to the Decrees of one General Council either that of Ephesus or of Chalcedon And they plead for themselves That there was a misinterpretation of their meaning or not right understanding one another about the diff●rence of Nature and Person which occasioned those Decrees I would fain know whether those Churches which do not embrace the Decrees of those Councils are in a state of Heresie or not If they be then what must we think of such who reject the Decrees of Seven General Councils one after another and give far less probable accounts of the Proceedings of those Councils in their Definitions than the other do 2. He saith Those who have condemned it have not been in the least suspected of their Religion or of denying any Article of Faith Let any one judg of this by Lessius his Consequences And the Author of the first Treatise against the Oath of Allegiance saith in plain Terms That the Opinion that the Pope hath no such Power is erroneous in Faith as well as temerarious and impious And he proves it by this substantial Argument Because they who hold it must suppose that the Church hath been for some time in a damnable Error of Belief and Sin of Practice And he not only proves that it was defined by Popes and Councils but for a long time universally received and that no one Author can be produced before Calvins time that denied this Power absolutely or in any case whatsoever But a few Authors that are Abettors of it saith our Representer Not one total Dissenter for a long time saith the other And which of these is the true Representer The deniers of it not in the least suspected of their Religion saith one Their Opinion is erroneous in Faith temerarious and impious saith the other And a Professor of Lovain now living hath undertaken to shew that the nu●ber is far greater of those who assert this Doctrine than of those who deny it 3. If we charge their Church with this Opinion may not they as well charge ours with the like since Propositions as dangerous were condemned at Oxford July 26 1683. as held not by Jesuits but by some among our selves This is the force of his Reasoning But we must desire the Reader to consider the great disparity of the Case We cannot deny that there have been men of ill Minds and d●sloyal Principles Factious and Disobedient Enemies to the Government both in Church and State but have these Men ever had that Countenance from the Doctrines of the Guides of our Church which the Deposing Doctrine hath had in the Church of Rome To make the Case parallel he must suppose our Houses of Convocation to have several times declared these Damnable Doctrines and given Encouragement to Rebels to proceed against their Kings and the University of Oxford to have condemned them for this is truly the Case in the Church of Rome the Popes and Councils have owned and approved and acted by the Deposing Principle but the Universities of France of late years have condemned it How come the Principles of the Regicides among us to be parallel'd with this Doctrine when the Principles of our Church are so directly contrary to them and our Houses of Convocation would as readily condemn any such damnable Doctrines as the University of Oxford And all the World knows how repugnant such Principles are to those of the Church of England and none can be Rebels to their Prince but they must be false to our Church As to the Personal Loyalty of many Persons in that Church as I have no Reason to question it so it is not proper for me to debate it if I did since our business is not concerning Persons but Doctrines and it was of old observed concerning the Epicureans That thô their Principles did overthrow any true Friendship yet many of them made excellent Friends XXI Of Communion in one kind HE believes that he is no longer oblig'd to obey Christ's Commands than his Church will give him leave And that therefore tho' Christ instituted the Sacrament under both kinds and commanded it to be receiv'd so by all yet he thinks it is not necessary for any to do so now but Priests because his Church forsooth hath forbidden the Cup to the Laity And put a stop to the Precept of Christ who said Drink ye all of this Mat. 26. In submission to which Church-Prohibition all the poor people of his Communion contentedly rest while they see themselves defrauded of great part of that benefit which Christ left them as his Last Will and Testament for the comfort of their poor Souls and the Remedy of their Infirmities HE believes that he is oblig'd to obey all the commands of Christ and that neither his Church nor any other Power upon Earth can limit alter or annul any precept of Divine Institution contrary to the intention of the Law giver N●ither is the Denial of the Cup to the Laity a practise any ways opposite to this his Belief He being taught that thô Christ instituted the blessed Sacrament under both kinds and so deliver'd it to his Apostles who only were then present and

be so much rather questioned because those who assert the Pope may dispense go upon this ground Because Circumstances may alter the Obligation of a Vow and when a greater good is to be attained it ceaseth to oblige which to my Apprehension doth not prove the Pope's Power to dispense but the dispensable Nature of the Vows themselves 3. Whether all things of this nature being liable in continuance of time to great Degeneracy and Corruptions and the numbers of such Places being unserviceable either to Church or State it be not in the Power of the King and States of the Kingdom to dissolve and reduce them to ways more suitable to the Conveniences of both As to what he discourses about Councils of Perfection the Distractions of the World the Corruptions of the best Things c. they reach not the main Points but are only general Topicks which we are not concerned to debate XXXI Of Wicked Principles and Practices HE is Member of a Church which is called Holy but in her Doctrine and Practices so Foul and Abominable that whosoever admires her for Sanctity may upon the same grounds do homage to Vice it self Has ever any Society since Christ's time appear'd in the World so black and deform'd with hellish Crimes as she Has not she out-done even the most Barbarous Nations and Infidels with her Impieties and drawn a scandal upon the name of Christian by her unparallel'd Vices Take but a view of the horrid Practices she has been engag'd in of late years consider the French and Irish Massacres the Murders of Henry III. and IV. Kings of France the Ho●y League the Gun-powder Treason the Cruelty of Queen Mary the Firing of London the late Plot in the Year 1678. to subvert the Government and destroy His Majesty the Death of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey and an infinite number of other such-like Devilish Contrivances And then tell me whether that Church which has been the Author and Promoter of such barbarous designs ought to be esteem'd Holy and respected for Piety and Religion or rather be condemn'd for the Mysteries of Iniquity the Whore of Babylon which hath polluted the Earth with her Wickedness and taught nothing but the Doctrine of Devils And let never so many Pretences be made yet 't is evident that all these Execrable Practices have been done according to the known Principles of this Holy Church and that her greatest Patrons the most Learned of her Divines her most Eminent B●shops her Prelates Cardinals and even the Popes themselves have been the chief Managers of these Hellish Contrivances And what more convincing Argument that they are all well approved conform to the Religion taught by their Church HE is Member of a Church which according to the ninth Article of the Apostles Creed he believes to be Holy and this not only in Name but also in Doctrine and for witness of her Sanctity he appeals to her Councils Catechisms Pulpits and Spiritual Books of Direction in wh●ch the main design is to imprint in the Hearts of the Faithful this comprehensive Maxim of Christianity That they ought to love God above all things with their whole Heart and Soul and their Neighbour as themselves And that none flatter themselves with a confidence to be sav'd by Faith alone without living Soberly Iustly and Piously as 't is in the Council of Trent Sess. 6. c. 11. So that he doubts not at all but that as many as live according to the Direction of his Church and in observance of her Doctrine live Holily in the Service of and Fear of God and with an humble confidence in the Merits and Passion of their Redeemer may hope to be receiv'd after this Life into Eternal Bliss But that all in Communion with his Church do not live thus Holily and in the fear of God he knows 't is too too evident there being many in all places wholly forgetful of their Duty giving t●emselves up to all sorts of Vice and guilty of most horrid Crimes And though he is not bound to believe all to be Truth that is charg'd upon them by Adversaries there being no Narrative of any such Devilish Contrivances and Practices laid to them wherein Passion and Fury have not made great Additions wherein things Dubious are not improv'd into Certainties Suspicions into Realities Fears and Iealousies into Substantial Plots and downright Lies and Recorded Perjuries into Pulpit nay Gospel-Truths Yet really thinks that there has been Men of his Profession of every rank and degree Learned and Unlearned High and Low Secular and Ecclesiastick that have been scandalous in their Lives wicked in their Designs without the fear of God in their Hearts or care of their own Salvation But what then Is the whole Church to be condemn'd for the vicious Lives of some of her Professors and her Doctrine to stand guilty of as many Villanies as those commit who neglect to follow it If so let the Men of that Society Iudgment or Perswasion who are not in the like circumstance fling the first stone Certainly if this way of passing Sentence be once allow'd as just and reasonable there never was nor ever will be any Religion or Church of God upon the Earth 'T is but reck'ning up the Idolatries Superstitions Cruelties Rebellions Murders of Princes Impieties and other such like Enormities committed by the Iews as they stand recorded in Scripture and 't is immediately prov'd that the Iews were never the chosen People of God nor their Law the Dictates of Heaven 'T is but making a Lift of the Misdemeanours Irregularities Abuses Excesses Treacheries Simony Separation Discords Erroneous Doctrines to be found even in the time of the Apost●es and their Followers and they are all effectually prov'd to be the Disciples of Antichrist and that the World's Redeemer had no sooner ascended into Heaven but his Apostles left him and began to set up for Schism and Vice By this way Constantine may be evidently condemn'd for an Heathen because he murdered his Wife and his Son And the Religion of Theodosius be mark'd out for Atheism because by his Order seven Thousand Thessalonians were treacherously Massacred in three hours space without distinction of Sex or Age or the Innocent from the Guilty A confident Undertaker would find no difficulty in proving all this especially if he had but the Gift of exaggerating some things misrepresenting others of finding Authorities and Texts for every idle Story o● charging the ex●ravagant Opinions of every single Author upon the Religion they profess of raking together all the Wickedness Cruelties Treacheries Plots Conspiracies at any time committed by any ambitious Desperado's or wicked Villains And then positively asserting that what these did was according to the Doctrine of that Church of which they were Members and that the true measures of the Sanctity and Goodness of the Church in whose Communion these Men were may be justly taken from the Behaviour of such Offenders But certainly no Man of Reason and Conscience can

what power these things have they not of themselves but only from Heaven and by the Invocation of the Name of Iesus who as by his heavenly Blessing he enables us to do things above the power of Nature so also by the Prayers of his Church he blesses these things in order to the working effects above their own natural qualities that by them his Fatherly Benefits may be appl●ed to us and that so the Faithful may more particularly honour and bless him in all his Creatures XXXIII Of Holy Water THE Misrepresenter charges him with approving superstitious uses of inanimate things and attributing wonderful effects to them as Holy-Water Candles Oyl Bread c. In Answer our Author 1. declares That the Papist truly represented utterly disapproves all sorts of Superstition But it he had designed to have represented truly he ought to have told us what he meant by Superstition and whether any Man who observes the Commands of the Church can be guilty of it 2. He saith That these things are particularly deputed by the Prayers and Blessing of the Priest to certain uses for God's Glory and the Spiritual and Corporal Good of Christians This is somewhat too general but Marsilius Columna Archbishop of Salerno who hath taken most pains in this matter sums them up 1. As to Spiritual they are Seven 1. To fright Devils 2. To remit Venial sins 3. To cure Distractions 4. To elevate the Mind 5. To dispose it for Devotion 6. To obtain Grace 7. To prepare for the Sacrament 2. As to Corporal 1. To cure Barreness 2. To multiply Goods 3. To procure Health 4. To purge the Air from pestilential Vapours And now as our Author saith What Superstition in the use of it He names several things of Gods own appointing to Parallel it as the Waters of Iealousy the Shew-bread the Tables of Stone but the first was miraculous the other had no such effects that we ever heard of Elisha's Salt for sweetning the Water was undoubtedly a Miracle Is the Holy-Water so As to the Liver of the Fish for expelling the Devil in the Book of Tobit he knows the Book is not owned for Canonical by us and this very place is produced as an Argument against it there being no Ground from Scripture to attribute the Power of expelling Devils to the Liver of a Fish either naturally or symbolically Vallesius offers at the only probable account of it that it must be a Divine Power given to it which the Angel Raphael did not discover and yet it is somewhat hard to conceive how this Liver should have such a power to drive away any kind of Devil as it is there expressed unless by a Devil there no more be meant than some violent Disease which the Iews generally believed to arise from the possession of evil Spirits But however here is an Angel supposed who made this known to Tobit but we find not Raphael to discover the virtue of Holy Water against Devils As to Christ using Clay to open the Eyes of the Blind it is very improperly applied unless the same miraculous Power be supposed in it which was in Christ himself And so is the Apostles laying on of Hands and using Oyl for miraculous Cures unless the same Gift of Miracles be in every Priest which consecrates H●ly Water which was in the Apostles And Bellarmine himself confesses That no infallible effect doth follow the use of Holy Water because there is no Promise of God in the case but only the Prayers of the Church But these are sufficient to sanctifie the Water saith our Author And to what end For all the spiritual and corporeal benefits before mentioned Is no promise of God necessary for such purposes as those How can any Church in the World dispose of God's Power without his Will It may appoint significant and decent Ceremonies but it can never appropriate divine Effects to them and to suppose any divine Power in things which God never gave them is in my Opinion Superstition and to use them for such ends is a superstitious use St. Cyril whom he quotes speaks of the Consecration of the Water of Baptism Càtech 3. St. Augustine only of a consecrated Bread which the Catechumens had De Peccat Merit Remiss l. 2. c. 26. but he attributes no divine Effects to it Pope Alexanders Epistle is a notorious Counterfeit Those Passages of Epiphanius Theodoret and S. Ierom all speak of miraculous effects and those who had the power of Miracles might sometimes do them with an external sign and sometimes without as the Apostles cured with anointing and without But this is no ground for consecrating Oyl by the Church or Holy Water for miraculous Effects If these Effects which they attribute to Holy Water be miraculous then every Priest must have not only a power of Miracles himself but of annexing it to the Water he consecrates if they be super-natural but not miraculous then Holy Water must be made a Sacrament to produce these Effects ex opere operato if neither one nor the other I know not how to excuse the use of it from Superstition XXXIV Of Breeding up People in Ignorance HE is train'd up in Ignorance and 't is the chief means made use of by his Church for preserving Men in that Communion to hide from them her manifold Mysteries of Iniquity her sottish Sup●rstitions her un-christian Doctrines by performing all in unknown Tongues and not permitting the poor misled People to look into or understand any thing that they Believe or Profess And by this blindness they are perswaded to embrace such infinite numbers of gross Errors that were but the Vail taken from their eyes but for one half hour and they but permitted to have one fair prospect of their Religion thousands and thousands would daily desert her and come over to the Truth HE has all the liberty encouragement and convenience of becoming learned of any People or Perswasion whatsoever And none that has ever look'd over any Library and found that the greatest numbers and choicest Books of all Sciences have men of his Communion for their Authors None that in his Travels has taken a thorough view of the Universities in Popish Countries of the Sorbon Louvain Salamanca Boloign c. and consider'd their laborious Studies in Philosophy Divinity History the Fathers Councils Scripture c. and besides the Students here has seen how many thousands there are in Religious Houses who free from the disturbances of the World make Virtue and Learning the business of their whole Life will ever lay Ignorance to the charge of the Papists but must in Justice confess that amongst them are to be found as many and as great Scholars as amongst any People or Societies in the World And tho the vulgar and common sort of that Profession understand not Latin yet are not they train'd up in ignorance of their Religion nor led along in blindness but are so provided of Books in their own